A Year of Momentum

Dec 22, 2018

4 Min Read

What a year is has been!

In a year of highlights for D2L, it’s hard to choose which ones to talk about in a year-end post like this one. In fact, if we went around the company, I’m sure we’d all have our own personal favourite moments.

For me, a few stand out. Moving all our clients to our new Daylight User Experience and getting all but one handful of our clients to the cloud are two of the many major accomplishments – not only will this make the experience of using D2L better for all our clients – it allows us to move so much faster in building products that learners love using. And Daylight truly expands on strength in helping our clients provide equity for all learners – no matter what device they have in their hand. I’m proud of the product, the teams who created every new feature – big or small – and all the teams that care so deeply about the success of our clients.

Fusion was very special moment this year. We got together in Houston to talk — among other things — about how education technology can make learning more human. That paradox has been something I’ve spent quite a bit of time thinking and talking and writing about this past year. And, as is the case every year, it was amazing to come together as a D2L family of employees and customers from around the world to talk about the big issues in education, work and learning.

I have been travelling quite a bit this year — and getting to meet with so many learners, educators, learning and development leaders, and senior execs has been a big highlight for me. D2L really is a global learning company — and I have very much enjoyed touching base with the people that are using our product to transform lives. There’s going to be a lot more of that in 2019 as we continue to build on our momentum.

In fact, that word — momentum — really sums up the year for me. This was a year that saw us move our technology forward, find many new clients, helped millions of learners, and really live up to our mission of shaping the future of learning. I’m proud of the work we’ve done and the accelerated pace with which we are introducing customer-focused and industry-leading change.

But if you thought this year was great — just wait.

2019 will mark the 20th anniversary of D2L — and we’re going to be pulling out all the stops as we celebrate that incredible milestone. We’re going to use this once-in-a-decade opportunity to re-introduce ourselves to the people who have been watching us grow — and, in 2019, they’re going to see that we’ve become a whole new D2L. I cannot wait to share our new vision for the future of learning with even more people.

In the meantime — and as we go into the holidays — I want to say thank you, once again. The people I work with are some of the most talented and forward-thinking leaders anywhere in the world. Each of them is making a difference in the lives of women and men —and boys and girls — in communities all over the globe.

This holiday season, I am tremendously thankful to work beside those people — every day — who are dedicated to giving the gift of learning to our world.

So from my family to yours — have a wonderful holiday, may you find time to be with friends and loved ones and may the peace and joy of the season lift you up now, and through the very exciting — and historic — year to come.